The new Kings Cross

SYDNEY'S notorious Kings Cross has cleaned up its act and swapped sleaze for a new sophistication, says Diana Plater.

Mandalay Room / Britta Campion

YOU might see people puking in the gutter, winos begging for a few dollars, or money and drugs being exchanged as rubbish blows along the street.

But the scene could also reveal young sophisticates drinking coffee in outside cafes, chatting by the El Alamein fountain or sipping cocktails in a stylish new bar.

Whatever your view, it's going to change if what you're looking at is Sydney's Kings Cross – despite all its ups and downs, still an entertainment Mecca for locals and tourists.

Take a walk along Darlinghurst Road, down Roslyn Street and back up to Macleay Street and you'd think you were in the middle of a building site.

You'll find new shops and restaurants finally opening, and behind hoardings major redevelopments taking place.

There's change on The Strip.

Old hotels are being replaced with modern boutique-style ones, more than 15 new bars have opened or are about to open or have been expanded, even new gyms, hairdressers, bookshops and delis are emerging.

The old Aussies Rules club has been completely remodelled as Club Swans, including function rooms and cocktail bar. The Empire Hotel was one of the first hotels to be upgraded, followed by the Kings Cross Hotel. Others include the Piccadilly, Barclay's, Vibe and Diamant.

The sleaze is being shed

In recent weeks a dirty backpackers lodge has been transformed into The Storrier, themed around the works of artist Tim Storrier. It's the first of seven art hotels planned by boutique developer, the A Hotels Group, for Australia over the next 12 months.

The Crest Hotel on the corner of Darlinghurst and Victoria Roads has undergone a $20 million renovation and is now the Chifley Potts Point with 227 rooms and the Cursa Restaurant and Delta Bar. A Kings Cross institution, the Korean Gingseng Bathhouse on the first floor, is being replaced by a new spa.

Newer bars and nightclubs include The Springfield Bar and Restaurant, The Lincoln, Aperitif in Kellet Street and Favela in Kellet Way. The sleaze is being shed for a new sophistication, say the bar owners.

General manager of the Kings Cross Partnership Linda Mearing, spent a couple of hours walking me through a place that to many brings back often fond – and sometimes not so fond – memories.

Everybody, she says, has a Kings Cross story.

The recovery of Kings Cross

The Cross has gone through many phases – from Bohemian, to arty to hippie to rock'n'roll to downright criminal to trendy.

Local identities over the years included prostitute Tilly Devine, artist William Dobell, murdered newspaper editor Juanita Nielsen, "witch" Rosaleen Norton and nightclub owner Abe Saffron.

But this decade's history has not been so salubrious. By the 2000 Olympics the big hotels had become tired and the terrorism fears after September 11 affecting international tourism sounded their death knell, Mearing explains.

Ten major hotels closed, 2,000 beds were lost and a subsequent one million visitors to the area were written off.

"Kings Cross hit rock bottom," she says.

"With organised crime and heroin dealing... it became a pretty seedy area. The medically-supervised injecting centre was the first swallow on the horizon of the recovery of Kings Cross."

The centre was one of around 100 recommendations that came out of the 1999 drug summit held by the NSW Carr government and lobbied for by now Lord Mayor and local state member Clover Moore.

The Kings Cross Chamber of Commerce opposed the injecting centre (now run by the Uniting Church) though. It was this opposition and its unsuccessful court action that sent the chamber bankrupt. Eventually the Kings Cross Partnership, a loose organisation of local businesses, was formed as an alternative forum.

Sign of the time

In the meantime, prostitution, apart from the bigger brothels, has moved largely to the suburbs. And crime and corruption is no longer institutionalised like it was in the 50s and 60s.

Following political upheavals, Sydney City Council regained control and mayors Frank Sartor and then Lucy Turnbull followed by Clover Moore saw the need to improve the Cross.

First up was a major upgrade of Darlinghurst Road, including bronze street plaques that tell the area's colourful history.

Despite the "gentrification" of Macleay Street and astronomical prices for apartments with no parking in Potts Point many of the locals have tried to hang on in the country's most densely populated suburb.

And perhaps as a sign of the time others like John McEwen owner of Things4U Antiques and Old Wares in Roslyn Street next to the 45-year-old Piccolo Bar have moved back to his old stomping ground.

His shop is opposite the new Favela bar and nightclub and another redevelopment, site of the former Baron's, a favourite haunt and institution that closed down last year.

This used to be junkie central

Four years ago nearly all the shops in the street were shut – including a book shop selling porn which lost its clients with the internet boom.

But the much lower use of heroin and the increased police presence have had an effect, according to McEwen.

"This used to be junkie central," he says. "But they don't congregate here anymore ... there's a different type of person walking down the street now."

"This is the biggest, most cosmopolitan area closest to the city," he points out, adding that Bondi Junction and beaches such as Bondi are only a train ride away and it's a peninsula suburb close to the harbour. "So more people want to live here."

And part of that is because of the area's buzz and edginess.

"But the people who have lived here for a long time are supportive (about the changes). They're into their neighbourhood."

Many in The Strip complain that such a busy area needs more parking stations, with parking for locals and visitors a nightmare, and want the council and state government to make the issue a priority.

There's also constant threat over the future of the government-run Nightrider Bus Service which drops patrons at Town Hall train station late at night and has had security guards funded by local businesses, she says.

But the Kings Cross Partnership, the Licensing Accord and the police are all working together to improve the situation.

Following local lobbying to the state government and the Taxi Council, security guards now patrol the taxi ranks on weekend nights.

With the changes has come a safer atmosphere with the incidence of assaults in licensed premises dropping. It's a different mixed crowd who tend to know how to handle their alcohol, Mearing says.